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This survey, which uses acoustic devices that resemble small, plastic green lunch boxes, is how biologists such as Parent get it done.

The devices are secured about 10 metres high to trees, 20 to 30 metres apart from each other, said Parent. They record bat calls using an ultrasonic microphone, and turn out a sonogram, which lets biologists identify the species of bats in the area.

“If we pick up a significant number of endangered species, then it’s labeled an endangered species habitat,” said Meredith Meeker, a biologist at Cole also on site.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry requires developers to find out whether there are any protected species at risk, whether their habitats are present at or near the location of the proposed development, said ministry spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski in an email.

This survey is using five devices in total, each of which costs about $2,000, said Parent.

Studies on wildlife in proposed development sites are nothing new — similar studies already exist for birds, plants and amphibians, for example — but studying bats presents a unique set of hurdles.

It’s unclear how many bats live in the GTA, said Kowalski.

“Due to these species being very cryptic and mobile, it is nearly impossible to have any accurate population numbers for any area,” she said in an email. Kowalski added that all of Ontario’s eight species of bats have habitats in the GTA.

June is high season for this particular survey, which must be conducted during that month alone and must last 10 days minimum, because it’s when bats are most active.

And if a significant number of endangered species is found, developers have to try and mitigate the impact of the development on the bats and improve the area for them, for example, by replanting an area with trees to compensate for trees being cut down or by installing bat boxes to make up for lost habitat.

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